LAS CRUCES - A hot start faded quickly for the New Mexico State Aggies, and eventually so did their chances at their first win of the 2013 college football season.

By the end of the first quarter against the San Diego State Aztecs, NMSU held advantages in key categories: passing yards (138 to 5), time of possession (10:21 to 4:39) and, of course, the scoreboard (a 10-0 lead over SDSU).

By early in the second period, NMSU led 16-2 (a blocked extra point returned the other way accounted for the Aztecs points).

But the Aggie offense didn't move the ball for the remainder of the contest (gaining just 123 yards the final three periods of play, 84 of which came in the second half). The Aztecs outscored NMSU 21-0 in the final two quarters of play and went on to a 26-16 victory at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

It was San Diego State's first win of the year - the team is now 1-3 thus far - while the Aggies fell to 0-5.

"We gotta have more points than 16 points on the board to win," Martin said. "That's the bottom line. We gotta step up and make plays. When a team challenges you like that to throw the football and they're going to pressure you that much, you've got to take advantage of it and hurt them. We got that done in the first half, we just didn't get it done in the second."

The Aggie defense did in fact play a very good game.

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It was a season-low for points scored against the unit, and the Aztecs ran for just 90 yards through three quarters (they did in fact finish with 212 rushing yards by the end of the evening).

The final time-of-possession numbers ended up slanted on San Diego's State's side of the ledger (35:40 to 24:20) as NMSU converted on just 4 of 15 third-down conversions in the contest.

San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey was a difference maker. The speedy freshman finished with 167 yards on 19 carries, while scoring three touchdowns (153 of those yards, along with all three scores, came in the second half).

"I was really pleased with our defense, the way they played," Martin said. " I thought those kids gave everything they had. They were on the field quite a bit, especially in the second half. They kept coming up with answers and really played well....They had their back to the wall and I really thought they played well."

When asked if it was the best performance of the season for the defense, safety Davis Cazares said "Yeah, obviously. We gave up the fewest points, we played the best as a defense. But we still didn't get it done. You lose, it means you didn't get it done....But we played our hearts out tonight."

NMSU got off to a fast start, with quarterback Andrew McDonald on target (14 of 18 for 172 yards and two touchdowns early on), the Aggie wide receivers playing solid (10 different players made receptions on the evening, with scoring grabs from Josh Bowen and Andrew Dean) and the offensive line holding up in pass protection.

But the Aggies couldn't get a rushing game going (finishing with just 40 yards on 27 carries) while attempting 10 passes in the second and third quarters combined.

"We need to establish more of a run game," McDonald said. "If we do that, we'll become more of a complete offense. Our offensive line played great tonight, I thought they blocked well. San Diego State does a lot of crazy blitzes. I thought, overall, we picked it up well."

NMSU led 16-5 at halftime - the Aggies blocked an SDSU field goal to close out the second quarter - although had some missed opportunities to start the third period.

The first was a fake field goal from the Aggies on their opening drive of the period - punter Jake Capraro (who was acting as the team's holder) tucked the football and ran on what would have been a 47-yard attempt, only to get stopped well short on fourth-and-6.

The ensuing Aztecs possession saw NMSU get a fourth-down interception deep inside Aggie territory. Unfortunately for the Aggies, the team was flagged for a holding penalty, giving SDSU an automatic first down. The Aztecs would eventually score a touchdown on the drive, making the score 16-11 after a failed two-point conversion.

When asked about such plays and their impact on the game, Martin said "who knows?"

On the fake field goal, he added "it should not have been faked. It was a check with me at the line and we actually should have kicked the ball because they weren't rushing."

The Aztecs took a 19-16 lead early in the fourth quarter on Pumphrey's 2-yard run, then got a 43-yarder from the freshman (his final score of the game) to finish things off with 1:37 remaining in the contest.

The Aggies will take the field again next Saturday, with their annual rivalry game against the University of New Mexico. The contest will be played in Albuquerque.